5 minute read
National Culinary Review May/June 2024
from National Culinary Review (May/June 2024)
by National Culinary Review (an American Culinary Federation publication)
Memorable Meals
Country club chefs strive to provide top ingredients, menus and presentations // By Amanda Baltazar
The overarching goal of chefs who work in country clubs is to provide their members with memorable food experiences.
“I strive to give them something they can’t find in town but also something that’s on par or exceeds what they’re getting from their [other] clubs,” says ACF Chef Adam Deviney, CEC , executive chef, The Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst.
Chef Deviney aims to provide this top-notch experience through his products — organic, seasonal and local produce, as well as prime cuts of meat and fresh local seafood. “It starts with the quality of the ingredients, and a lot comes down to not manipulating it too much — just slice it and serve it.”
He prefers to stick with mostly classical cooking techniques, and one of his favorite dishes is “a very simple fusion dish: bulgogi beef pasta,” he says. This features home-made kimchi, house-made gemelli, Korean bulgogi marinated beef, pickled carrots, cashews and chives.
Plating can make all the difference to how his dishes look, and Chef Deviney uses a lot of small tools including cracker molds, mini fruit molds, rings and brushes. “It’s taking something that was great in the first place and giving it a more modern presentation,” he says.
ACF Chef Phoebe Beiter, CCC , is the expo line chef at the Country Club of Buffalo (N.Y.) and president of the ACF of Greater Buffalo New York Chapter. At just 23, she’s one of the youngest ACF members to hold a chapter presidency office. Some members at her club visit every week so the menus change frequently. Dishes are both classical and modern, and they embrace various cuisines. The changing menu, she says, “not only offers variety
ACF Chef Adam Deviney, CEC uses small molds, rings and brushes for plating his dishes (bottom right) at The Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst.
the membership enjoys, but also encourages our kitchen staff to try new techniques and flavor profiles.”
Elegant Comfort
The clientele at Jonathan’s Landing Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., “wants elegant specials and comfort food,” says ACF Chef Joseph Watters, executive chef, who changes 65-75% of his menu every four to six weeks. He recently rebranded the menu, with a new cover and design, and incorporated new dish concepts. These include a cold section with sushi, sashimi and ceviche of the day as well as a tuna tartare, along with a skewer section with different marinades and rubs from around the world. He also brought in some more high-end dishes such as panseared foie gras.
One of Chef Watters’ favorite dishes is a prosciutto-wrapped rabbit loin — red wine-braised leg, corn puree, Jerusalem artichoke, fricassee fingerling potato and a mustard cream sauce to suit the high-endbut-approachable dishes his customer base craves. “It’s what they’re looking for — a small amount of protein, well done and elegantly plated,” he says. “Really understanding your membership helps you evolve into the direction they want.”
Chef Watters also holds wine dinners where the sky’s the limit. To come up with these meals, he starts by tasting each wine that will be served. “Then I will look for characteristics that will start to develop a clean flow and progression on the food to be paired with it. We look for cold food elements to help refresh certain dishes and others become much more complex and with depth of flavor to go with bigger wines like cabs and Bordeaux.”
He puts a lot of energy into the presentation, trying different options, adding or subtracting certain ingredients or garnishes. He also incorporates dry ice presentations or liquid nitrogen demos to finish off certain dishes.
Using Social Media
Chef Deviney includes social media as part of his job, and uses it to attract new employees.
“The industry is lacking younger chefs and younger cooks, and that presence is important for us,” he says. “Most people don’t realize what it’s like to work at a country club. Because we’re not fighting for that bottom line like an independent restaurant, we can cook very differently.”
Chef Deviney posts images of food to get the word out about what happens at the club. This pays dividends when cooks and chefs looking for work can see the craft and the positive collaborations happening daily. He even shoots drone footage of parties, then clips it into small files for posting.
It’s important to show what the club’s doing on social media as well as the positive work atmosphere. “There was a lot of yelling and belittling when I was a young chef,” he says. “We need to change the reputation of the business.”
